Naive by Charles Royce (world best books to read .txt) 📕

law, graduating second in his class, and had enjoyed his subsequent pick of New York City’s elite defense firms. He’d finally settled on Lyte & Morgan, where he paid his dues and blossomed into one of the most sought-after up-and-coming criminal defense attorneys in the city.

Lennox chose finance, and was hand-picked by Élan Publishing, a startup at the time, right after graduation. He also chose drugs, which almost cost him his job and his friendship with Shawn until Lennox got clean.

Through weddings, promotions, drugs, sobriety, Shawn has seen the best of Lennox and the worst. Ever the hero, Shawn now stands in service before Micah, whom he’d always admired for keeping Lennox sober. Shawn has been through way too much with Lennox, his best friend, his best man, to stand by and let Lennox’s husband be put away for something that he would never do.

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Micah says, looking up at Shawn.

“I know.” Shawn grabs his hand and sits down next to Micah.

Micah, feeling true empathy for the first time throughout this awful ordeal, lays his head on Shawn’s shoulder and begins to weep. “What am I supposed to do now?”

Micah wipes his eyes on Shawn’s shoulder. Practicing his skills of walking the delicate balance between friend and lawyer, Shawn lays his head on Micah’s for a brief moment.

“Well, first of all, I need to know every detail about what happened tonight.” Shawn lifts his head. Micah takes the cue and sits up. “And not just what you told the detective. I need to know everything, what you were wearing, hearing, seeing, thinking … Did you have a fight, was he cheating again, is there someone else in the picture, was he doing drugs, was he meeting with weird people again … All of it.”

Micah nods. He thinks about how weary he is of talking and processing this horrible evening. He flashes back to seeing Lennox, hearing his gurgles, pounding on his chest, hearing the weird beeping sound, wondering about the flashing lights from the corner of the room. He wants to talk to Shawn but is fighting to keep his eyes open.

Shawn reads the situation.

“Maybe we should do this tomorrow. Let’s get you a hotel room for the night.” Shawn looks down at his watch, which reads 3:50am. “Jesus.”

✽✽✽

“Christ!” Detective Penance is on a phone call with the crime scene. “I’m sorry, one more time. Slowly.”

Lily looks on, shrugging her shoulders as if to ask, What the fuck are they saying?

“Ok, thanks.” He hangs up the phone.

“What?” asks Lily.

“Sit down.” Detective Penance smiles. Lily was already sitting. “There was a wireless camera in the corner of that room.”

“Come again?”

“The battery was dead, but the camera was still warm.”

“Wait. What? How? What? Wireless?”

“Yes!” Detective Penance exclaims. “A tiny camera, hidden in an African-looking wooden box, all hand-carved and shit, with a hole in the front. Coulda recorded everything.”

“Fuck me.”

“Yep. Now we just have to find where it recorded to.”

C h a p t e r   1 1

Josh Harrison is waiting at AM, the brunch place where he is supposed to meet Jenna. Late August is once again pounding the city with its sweltering heat, and he wonders if sitting outside is the best idea, despite it being the only open table.

Jenna is late. Sunday morning is a busy time for the NYC hot spot of the moment, and Josh is thinking of succumbing to the passive aggressive pressure from the waitress with the rolling eyes.

He has chosen the best spot for people-viewing, right below the two huge restaurant sign letters that read “AM.” He sits at one of three black metal curbside tables, reading the New York Times Sunday edition on his iPhone. He scrolls through a raving review of his launch party and smiles. Then he reads an in-depth story on Lennox’s murder.

Lennox.

He stops on a color photo of the murder suspect, a man who vaguely resembles himself, with the same hair, same defined features.

“Fucking Micah,” he says out loud. He runs his fingers through his sweat drenched, wavy blond locks. Lennox had a type. That’s all. Stupid to think I was ever anything more.

Despite his feelings about Lennox and Micah, Josh wants to continue enjoying his weekend, continue basking in his success. But he can’t seem to settle his thoughts.

Relaxing is supposed to be one of the perks of having a big budget. He thinks of the janitorial crew he hired, mostly likely still cleaning up after the event. So why can’t I sit back and be proud of what I’ve done?

He checks the time on his phone.

Waiting on Jenna, he thinks.

Sounds like a romantic comedy. Or a fucking frustrating film about …

“I’m so sorry.” Jenna appears from behind on his left, a full twenty minutes past her planned arrival. She kisses him on both sides of his face. “You wouldn’t believe it if you tried.”

“Jenna, lovely Jenna, right on time.” Josh tries to mask his frustration with sarcasm, a language he knows she will understand. “Where have you been? And don’t tell me you’ve been home, because you never are. You barely even sleep there.”

“Stop. You know I nanny in Soho on Friday nights, but since I had your event that night, I told her I could do Saturday instead. Just got done.”

Jenna, dressed in seersucker shorts and a yellow v-neck, crosses Josh and seats herself in the chair opposite him. She looks up at the sign above Josh’s head and smiles.

“Dammit, I missed it again,” she says.

“You and that sign.”

“My dear sweet Josh, are you okay?” Jenna reaches in her purse for a cigarette. “I’m sorry I haven’t called, it’s all been a bit too much.”

“You’re talking about Lennox, right?” Josh tries to act like the fact that his ex-lover was murdered shouldn’t faze him one bit. “I’m in shock, I think. Mind if we ease into talking about that?”

Jenna lifts the mood by raising her voice a half-octave.

“Okay, where do I start?” Jenna ignites her Parliament Light,